Congress sees the light

From today’s editorials: Passage of a health care bill for 9/11 responders is the latest victory in a lame-duck session. “We are not doomed to endless gridlock,” the President says.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand called it a “Christmas miracle.” Yet for once, the political hyperbole, seasonal metaphors and all, was oh so appropriate. Congress’ passage of a bill to cover the costs of health care for the rescue workers who became sick after responding to the Sept. 11 attacks really is an uplifting and unexpected triumph.

Yes, this was common sense legislation that should have been enacted years ago — so far back, in fact, that it is was Ms. Gillibrand’s predecessor, then-Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who initially was leading the fight for special health benefits for the first responders of 9/11. A Congress ordinarily so sensitive to the changing politics of the post-Sept 11 era was much too slow in facing up to the moral obligation to care for the rescue workers who encountered toxic smoke, fumes and dust.

The final burst of resistance to the 9/11 health care bill came from Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., who argued to the end that one group was being singled out for government help at the expense of future generations. Others, like Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, objected to the cost of the bill, which was reduced in the end from $7.4 billion to $4.3 billion.

Still, the late-minute approval counts as one more achievement for a lame-duck Congress. The political divisions that grew even wider after the midterm elections haven’t stopped determined legislators from overcoming partisan obstacles to the common good.

There was last week’s repeal of the ban on gays in the military, for instance. In the Senate, President Obama and the Democrats were able to overcome resistance among many Republicans to a nuclear weapons control treaty with Russia that seemed to consist almost entirely of a determination not to let the political opposition score any points at all, no matter how crucial the issue. Voting to end “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” surely made Wednesday’s passage of the New START treaty even harder.

The sour sentiments there resonate most clearly with this comment from Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, an outspoken foe of New START.

“We know when we’ve been beaten,” said Mr. Hatch, when it was clear that the treaty would be approved.

And here we thought that defeat, in the context of the nuclear arms race with Russia, meant something much worse than losing the votes to defeat a treaty.

The Sept. 11 health benefits bill and the New START accord count as impressive victories for Mr. Obama, a president who had seemingly lost his bearings. He offers the more encouraging view.

“If there’s any lesson to draw from these past few weeks, it’s that we are not doomed to endless gridlock,” he says. “We’ve shown in the wake of the November elections that we have the capacity not only to make progress, but to make progress together.”

If only both parties can sustain that momentum into next year’s session of Congress. That would mean, for instance, immigration reform – notably passage of the Dream Act, which would offer the children of illegal immigrants a chance to become legal U.S. residents if they serve in the military or attend college. And it would mean agreement on more economic stimulus efforts.

A year that’s ending on a surprising flurry of legislative accomplishments, then, offers reason for hope.